Quick commerce arm Blinkit is receiving funding of Rs 300 crore ($36 million) from foodtech major Zomato. Zepto and Swiggy Instamart are the platform’s two rivals, and the infusion will help it bolster its offering.
Along with Blinkit, Zomato plans to invest an additional Rs 100 crore ($12 million) in Zomato Entertainment, a subsidiary that manages the company’s ticketing and live events divisions.
Zomato’s regulatory filing, retrieved from the Registrar of Companies, indicates that the board has approved a resolution to invest Rs 300 crore in Blinkit Commerce and Rs 100 crore in Zomato Entertainment.
Since acquiring Blinkit in August 2022, Zomato has invested Rs 2,300 crore ($277 million) in the company. The major food delivery company paid Rs 4,477 crore ($568 million) in all-stock to acquire BlinkIt (formerly Grofers).
New capital is being allocated shortly after Zomato’s Q4 results, which showed that Blinkit achieved EBITDA profitability in Q4 FY24 despite a 19.4% increase in revenue to Rs 769 crore. Zomato reported a total profit of Rs 175 crore for the most recent quarter.
The quick commerce market has seen increasing competition in the last few years. Swiggy declared towards the end of 2021 that it would be investing $700 million in its Instamart quick commerce venture. Since then, Zepto has raised approximately $430 million in three tranches and intends to raise additional funds. Major online retailer Flipkart is also interested in the fast commerce market. Google, the largest search engine, contributed $350 million to the Walmart-owned company.
Goldman Sachs analysts recently declared that Blinkit was worth more than Zomato. Sanjeev Bikhchandani, the founder of Info Edge, an early supporter of Zomato, stated in an interview with Entrackr that Blinkit will grow to a decent size.
